It’s not often that movies shed a positive light on sex work. Sex workers are typically depicted as down-and-out victims, winding up dead or diseased, because this is the narrative that society is most comfortable with. Yet as a sex writer, and someone who has interviewed sex workers in the US extensively, in my experience, that depiction is often not the case. As Camille Paglia put it in her 1994 collection Vamps & Tramps:

Moralism and ignorance are responsible for the constant stereotyping of prostitutes by their lowest common denominator – the sick, strung-out addicts, crouched on city stoops, who turn tricks for drug money. Every profession has its bums, cheats, and ne’er-do-wells. The most successful prostitutes in history have been invisible.

And yet, in a rare occurrence, Fading Gigolo, which John Turturro wrote, directed and stars in, shows us a more compassionate side of the world’s oldest profession.

In this warm comedy, Turturro plays Fioravante, a gentle bookstore employee who loses his part-time job when his boss Murray (Woody Allen) is forced to close down. Serendipitously, Murray learns that his dermatologist Dr Parker (Sharon Stone) is looking to arrange a ménage à trois with her friend (Sofia Vergara). Murray suggests that Fioravante is the perfect man for the job. After a little coaxing, Fioravante agrees to let Murray pimp him out.

For his first trick – a passionate one-on-one with Dr Parker – Fioravante earns $2,500: $1k for each hour of his time, plus a $500 tip. A string of satisfied clients follow, procured by Murray, and the money rolls in. While Fading Gigolo begins as a silly comedy, it grows into an unconventional, sensitive tale about human connection. One client is Avigale (Vanessa Paradis), a disheartened Hasidic widow who is brought to Fioravante under Murray’s claim that he is “a healer.” What ensues between the two people is real intimacy, leading Avigale to affirm, “You bring magic to the lonely.”

In the film, it seemed as if you were making a connection between sex work and social work. Why did you decide to make a movie that shows sex work in a positive light?

Turturro: Well, I think there are positive things about what sex workers do. I know and consulted people who have been in that world, and it’s interesting on a human level that people sometimes go to these people for reasons beyond just sexual contact – maybe they're looking for solace, or other things, and sometimes they are truly helped. I also think there’s a real exchange that goes on in these situations, whereas in so many other professions there isn't. I wasn’t trying to explore the whole profession of prostitution – I know there can be darker or exploitative sides. And I know that being a gigolo is a small part of it, but I thought this story would be interesting for the female characters, in order to see them in the flipside of the situation – a situation of more power.

The story of the level-headed, successful sex worker is not one we see often. Usually it’s the exact opposite, and the story ends tragically.

That’s right. And as a person who makes movies, I’m well aware that cliche is abundant in the worlds of TV and film, and then these cliches become accepted, and they reduce our sensitivity. And certainly the representation of women in general in film is very reductive. But I think it’s possible to increase an audience’s sensitivity – to leave them delighted and surprised about something – and for them to have a great time, too.

The idea of a woman paying for sex could be easily interpreted as desperate, but you managed to convey it in a way that felt empowering. Was that something you thought about when writing the female characters, and choosing their professions and personalities?

It was. Obviously one woman [Sharon Stone] is married, and maybe her husband has all these other relationships, so she has this crazy impulse, and all of a sudden she winds up in a situation that she's never been in before, and it’s like she's a young girl all over again. You know, when people begin to date again, after a certain age, they kind of have to start from the beginning – there's an awkwardness, a newness. I thought it would be interesting to see people who’ve had a certain amount of life experience put in a situation where they have to reinvent themselves. And then I wanted one of the female characters to be really free [Sofia Vergara], and another female character to represent a religion, who would be sort of oppressed [Vanessa Paradis]. I just thought, “Well, if I’m making a movie about sex, it has to involve religion.”

Being raised Roman Catholic like yourself, I’m well aware that for people like us, sex and religion will be inextricably linked forever.

It’s true! God, I feel the same way, and I can’t explain why, but you just know that it is. I know plenty of men in certain religions who go outside of their rules and pay for sex, but in this film, Avigale isn’t even thinking about that. She’s just looking for some kind of therapeutic release, and though you could say she’s manipulated into the experience, actually, something really meaningful happens to her.

A powerful line in the movie is when Avigale is looking over Fioravante’s bookshelf, and recalls having to give away all her books, since she’s no longer allowed to read. Fioravante casually replies, “Well, men have never wanted women to read." Do you think that's true?

Sadly, it’s true. I read this book about the history of reading, and the first women who read were educated nuns. And when the printing press was created, there was this whole big movement started by men to not allow women to read, because knowledge would inspire women to have “other ideas.” And that impulse is still alive in many parts of the world, and it’s true that in [Hasidic] communities women aren't supposed to be educated after a certain age. I've met women who left that community who talked about having to hide their books, or give them away, and I thought that was a really strong thing to talk about.

Fading Gigolo is out in the US on limited release now, and will be in UK cinemas from 23 May.